Facebook Messenger Appointment Booking Into Your Calendar
Appointment booking on Messenger lets a customer book from the chat they already opened on your Facebook Page. AeroChat reads the free slots from your booking system, such as Google Calendar, Calendly, Acuity Scheduling, Phorest or Cliniko, offers a few, books the one the customer picks and confirms the date, time and address in the same conversation.
What happens today
A customer asks “do you have anything on Saturday?” in Messenger. Someone checks the diary, replies with two times, and waits. By the time the customer answers, one of the slots has gone.
Bookings asked for in the evening wait until the morning. Some customers book elsewhere in the meantime, and others are double-booked because the diary was updated in one place and not the other.
How it runs on Messenger
- The customer asks to book. AeroChat asks which service they want, if they haven’t said.
- It reads the free slots for that service from your booking system and offers three that suit what the customer asked for.
- It asks for the name, phone number and email the booking needs, since Messenger does not pass them.
- It checks for an existing client record by phone number or email, so returning clients are not created twice.
- It creates the booking in your system, which sends its own confirmation and reminders.
- It confirms the booking in the chat with the date, time, address and how to change it.
- If the customer needs something the booking rules don’t cover, such as a long treatment or a group, it hands the conversation to your team.
The recipe
Copy this into AeroChat
When a customer asks to book, follow these steps.
- Ask which service they want. Our services and durations are in the knowledge base.
- Ask which days and times suit them, then check free slots in our Google Calendar for that service’s duration and offer three.
- Ask for their name, phone number and email.
- Book the slot they pick in Google Calendar with the title “Service, Name” and their phone number in the description (example).
- Confirm the booking with the date, time and our address: 12 Example Road (example).
- If they want a group booking or a service longer than 2 hours (example), hand the conversation to our front desk.
Never book outside our opening hours. Reply in the customer’s language.
Change the address, durations and handover rules to your own. If you use Calendly, Acuity Scheduling, Phorest or Cliniko, name that system instead of Google Calendar.
Connect the systems behind it
- Google Calendar: built in by connecting a Google account. AeroChat reads free time and creates the event.
- Calendly: AeroChat reads available times for an event type and books the invitee.
- Acuity Scheduling: AeroChat checks availability for the appointment type and creates the appointment.
- Phorest: for salons and spas, AeroChat books the service with the right staff member.
- Cliniko: for clinics, AeroChat finds the patient and books with the practitioner.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
Meta’s rules on Messenger
Your Page can reply within 24 hours of the customer’s last message, so the whole booking happens while they are in the chat. Replies typed by a person on your team have a separate 7-day window, which automated replies cannot use. If the customer came from a click-to-Messenger ad, you can reply for up to 7 days from their first message. Meta expects automated replies within 30 seconds of a message, or it can limit your messaging. Because AeroChat cannot message the customer again once the window closes, reminders come from your booking system by SMS or email, using the phone number and email AeroChat collected.
Also on WhatsApp, TikTok and web chat
The same booking workflow runs on WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok (direct messages and TikTok Shop buyer chat), Telegram, web chat and email, against the same calendar. A slot booked on one channel is gone on all of them.
Who uses it
- Dental clinics: check-ups and treatments booked with the right dentist.
- Hair and beauty salons: bookings with the stylist the client asks for.
- Spas and wellness centres: treatments booked with a deposit paid in the chat.
Questions
Can customers book appointments through Facebook Messenger?
Yes. AeroChat reads your free slots, books the one the customer picks in your booking system, and confirms it in Messenger.
Can AeroChat send appointment reminders on Messenger?
Messenger only allows automated replies within 24 hours of the customer’s last message, so reminders go from your booking system by SMS or email. On WhatsApp, reminders can go as approved templates to customers who opted in.
Can it take a deposit when it books?
Yes. AeroChat can send a payment link for the deposit and confirm the booking once it is paid. Built-in payment links are on the Growth and Advanced plans.
What if the customer needs to change the booking?
They message your Page again. AeroChat finds the booking, offers new slots and moves it, or hands the request to your team if your rules say so.
Take your next booking in Messenger
Start your 7-day free trial. No credit card needed.
On Shopify? Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store.
Related: payment links in Messenger and after-hours replies.